Dados do Trabalho

Título

Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the number of thrombolysis performed during the closure of the stroke unit in a neurological referral center.

RESUMO

Introduction: With the Covid-19 pandemic, a new scenario and a new demand has become a priority in health services globally, causing impact, restructuring and even closing of stroke units around the world. (1) All these measures had an impact on the care of patients with acute stroke, both in developed and developing countries. (2) The neurology emergency unit at Hospital da Restauração in Recife/Pernambuco, one of the services with the highest flow of care for patients with acute stroke in the Northeast, also had to readjust to the new scenario imposed.
Objective: To observe the impact of the closure of the stroke unit at Hospital da Restauração in the period from May 2020 to October 2021 and to compare the difference in the numbers of thrombolysis performed before closing (January 2020 to April 2020) and after the reopening, from November 2021 to April 2022, with the numbers of thrombolysis performed in the 18 months in which the unit remained closed.
Methods: An observational, retrospective, cross-sectional study was performed by analyzing the medical records of patients undergoing chemical thrombolysis, in a period of 28 months, which corresponded to the period from January 2020 to April 2022 in the neurological emergency of the Hospital da Restauração - Recife.
Results: The total number of patients undergoing chemical thrombolysis from January 2020 to April 2022 was 153. In 2020, 79 patients were thrombolysed and in 2021 there were 42 patients. In these 28 months of study, 10 months corresponded to the period of operation of the unit, with closure in May 2020 and reopening in November 2021. The period of operation of the stroke unit corresponded to 35% of the period analyzed. While the stroke unit was open, 60% of the hospital's thrombolysis were performed throughout the analyzed period. With the reopening of the stroke unit in November 2021, 48 patients have already undergone chemical thrombolysis in the first 4 months of 2022, corresponding to an absolute increase of 342.8% over the previous year.
Conclusion: Stroke units around the world guarantee better care for patients with acute stroke phase. (3) They promote better functionality outcome in all acute-phase patients, regardless of whether they were undergoing thrombolytic therapy.(4) In this study, we observed the negative impact on the amount of chemical thrombolysis performed, at a time when the Covid 19 pandemic reached the worst rates in the state Pernambuco.

Palavras Chave

Área

Doença Cerebrovascular